2013-12-08 19:15 Johannesburg

-A total of 53 heads of state have confirmed they will be attending the memorial for former president Nelson Mandela, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Sunday.

Addressing reporters in Johannesburg, she said no invitations were sent out and that it was up to people whether they wanted to attend the memorial. "We don't issue invitations for funerals... we just confirmed with the Mandela family again that there were no invitations issued for this funeral. "This is how we take care of funerals in our culture," Nkoana-Mashabane said.

Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said international heads of state and royalty had started arriving in South Africa. "The fact that international leaders are making their way to South Africa at such short notice reflects the special place president Nelson Mandela holds in the hearts of people around the globe," he said. "We are touched by the fact that many countries have declared periods of mourning, ordered that flags be flown at half-mast and draped or lit landmarks in the colours of the South African flag. We truly appreciate these gestures." Chabane said South Africa appreciated the willingness shown by people mourning, reflecting, and celebrating Mandela's life and legacy.

He said 13 African heads of states had confirmed attendance. International organisations, such as the United Nations, European Commission, and African Union, had also confirmed attendance.

Chabane said 11 eminent persons would also be in South Africa during this period.

US President Barack Obama would be accompanied by three of his country's former presidents: Jimmy Carter, George W Bush and Bill Clinton and their spouses, and 26 congressmen.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff would be accompanied by four former heads of state. "We expect more confirmations, and we wish to reiterate that our international guests are most welcome as they join us at this difficult time," said Chabane.

News agency AFP reported on Sunday that the Dalai Lama, who has twice since 2009 been denied a visa for South Africa, was not planning to attend his fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela's funeral, according to his spokesperson.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/53-heads-of-state-confirmed-for-Mandela-memorial-20131208

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More than 70 leaders expected for Mandela memorial, funeral
Reuters
By Ed Cropley 2 hours ago

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A man looks at a sculpture of South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela on the South Bank in …

By Ed Cropley

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - More than 70 world leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Iran's Hassan Rouhani are flying to South Africa for events commemorating Nelson Mandela this week, an unprecedented gathering that will hail one of humanity's great peacemakers.

Cuban leader Raul Castro, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Britain's David Cameron will also join what is set to be one of the biggest meetings of global dignitaries in recent history on Tuesday at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

The 95,000-seat stadium in Soweto, the township that was at the heart of the anti-apartheid struggle, will host the main memorial ceremony for Mandela, who died on Thursday aged 95.

It was the site of Mandela's last public appearance, when he waved to fans from the back of a golf cart at the final of the 2010 soccer World Cup.

"The whole world is coming to South Africa," foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said, playing down concerns about organising logistics and security for such a large event with only five days notice following Mandela's death.

Mandela, South Africa's first black president, passed away peacefully in the company of his family on Thursday after a long battle with a lung infection, plunging his 52 million compatriots and millions more around the world into grief.

"We're obviously not starting from scratch in terms of organisation," Monyela said. "We've got a system that kicks into play whenever you've got events of this magnitude."

Since his death, South Africa has been gripped by an outpouring of emotion unrivalled since Mandela's release from 27 years in apartheid prisons in 1990, and his victory in the first all-race elections four years later.

On Sunday, worshippers filled churches, mosques, synagogues and community halls, offering praise and prayers for a man celebrated as "Father of the Nation" and a global beacon of integrity, rectitude and reconciliation.

Tributes have flowed in from around the world.

"The fact that international leaders are making their way to South Africa at such short notice reflects the special place President Mandela holds in the hearts of people around the globe," Presidency Minister Collins Chabane said.

After Tuesday's event, Mandela's remains will lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he was sworn in as President in 1994. He will then be buried on December 15 in Qunu, his ancestral home in the Eastern Cape province.

But only "very few" world leaders will attend the Qunu funeral, Monyela said, adding the idea was to keep this event more a family affair.[/b]

I wish these two faced hypocritical western leaders would leave this man's family to mourn him in peace.

The only head of state that should be given the honour of attending Madiba's funeral should be Castro who helped fund and train the armed wing of the ANC, the likes of Obama, Cameron and Netanyahu should be banned from attending this ceremony as their countries were staunch supporters of aparthied. they also still beleive in white supremacy and still practice racism in their own countries with Israel openly practising its own aparthied system.

I agree. Jews are WORST RACISTS.

cap28: I wish these two faced hypocritical western leaders would leave this man's family to mourn him in peace.

The only head of state that should be given the honour of attending Madiba's funeral should be Castro who helped fund and train the armed wing of the ANC, the likes of Obama, Cameron and Netanyahu should be banned from attending this ceremony as their countries were staunch supporters of aparthied. they also still beleive in white supremacy and still practice racism in their own countries with Israel openly practising its own aparthied system.

They should just move the UN headquarters to Joburg.

cap28: I wish these two faced hypocritical western leaders would leave this man's family to mourn him in peace.

The only head of state that should be given the honour of attending Madiba's funeral should be Castro who helped fund and train the armed wing of the ANC, the likes of Obama, Cameron and Netanyahu should be banned from attending this ceremony as their countries were staunch supporters of aparthied. they also still beleive in white supremacy and still practice racism in their own countries with Israel openly practising its own aparthied system.

Mba Biko. In his life time, Madiba FORGAVE ALL. That is one of those things that made his truly great. To do that will reduce his stature. 91 Heads-of-state for his funeral! There is no man on earth taht has this 'record'. We Africans should stand tall and proud that an African was this great

PEOPLE WE NEED A "NEW THREAD FOR THE BIGGEST GATHERING OF WORLD LEADERS IN THE 21 CENTURY".

THE BIGGEST GATHERING OF WORLD LEADERS FOR ONE MAN. Baba Mandela's Memorial is BIGGER THAN POPE JOHN PAUL'S II (71 heads of state attended).

[b] More than 100 heads of state and government -- current and past -- as well as scores of celebrities and heads of international organisations have confirmed their presence at a memorial ceremony for former South African president Nelson Mandela, who died last week aged 95.

"By noon today, 91 heads of state and 10 former heads of state confirmed they will attend the memorial at FNB Stadium" on Tuesday, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane told the SAPA news agency.

Only Britain's Prince Charles has so far announced his presence at the funeral itself, to be held Sunday in the southern village of Qunu where Mandela spent his childhood.

The following are among those who have confirmed their presence at Tuesday's event:

Leaders

US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. Three predecessors, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with Secretary of State and former first lady Hillary Clinton, will also be present.
French President Francois Hollande, accompanied by his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy.
British Prime Minister David Cameron
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmud Abbas
Cuban President Raul Castro
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Afghan President Hamid Karzai
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee
German President Joachim Gauck
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati
Chinese Vice President Liu Yuanchao
Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Royals

British Prince Charles
The King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander
Crown Prince of Denmark Frederik
Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
Saudi Prince and Second Deputy Prime Minister Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito

International organisations

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Chair of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
European Union President Herman van Rompuy
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi and ex-Irish president Mary Robinson will represent the group called The Elders, founded by Mandela in 2007.

Celebrities

US talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey, singer and activist Bono, British singer Peter Gabriel and British magnate Richard Branson are among the stars attending the ceremony.

The absent

The Dalai Lama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (THANX GOD HES NOT HERE), father of the Cuban revolution Fidel Castro.
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